M.J.
as seen on myspace
wed 6/25/2008
M.J. couldn't stay behind the music for long.
A sound engineer and producer, 23-year-old José A. Matos Negrón, aka M.J., left the console behind and picked up a microphone after he was discovered by DJ Negro at The Noise – the Puerto Rican club nights promoted by the DJ collective of the same name. Backed by romantic reggaetonero Zion, M.J. earned a spot on Los Benjamins: La Continuación by Luny Tunes. Dile, a romantikeo jam with sizzling synths and acoustic guitar, became a minor hit in Puerto Rico – no small feat when you're on an album with the likes of Daddy Yankee, Don Omar and Wisin y Yandel.
Earlier this month, M.J. released his debut album, Mi Sentimiento. Produced by Eliel, Memo and Mambo Kingz, the album includes his latest hit, He Venido, a syrupy reggaetón-flavored pop track. There's also the techno-ish She Makes Me Feel with Sean Kingston, and Se Fue featuring Zion, which sounds a lot like reggaetón's answer to Apologize by Timbaland and OneRepublic. As his star rises, M.J. remains humble: "Everything has happened so quickly that I sometimes find it hard to believe that I've received so many blessings in my career."
De La Ghetto
as seen on myspace
thu 6/19/2008
De La Ghetto is taking his break-up well.
The fresh-faced 27-year-old split up with his partner of three years, Arcángel, before the duo could release its highly-anticipated debut album. Arcángel y De La Ghetto earned a buzz with club-ready singles like Ven y Pégate (Get Close), Sorpresa (Surprise) and Ella Quiere (She Wants To) and appeared alongside Daddy Yankee, Don Omar and Wisin y Yandel on Mas Flow: Los Benjamins by Luny Tunes.
After management and label disputes, tiraera magnet Arcángel went solo, leaving De La Ghetto (Rafael Castillo) with doubts about his own solo career: "I was always worried that [fans] wouldn't support me, because Arcángel had many solo songs and I didn't have any." The Puerto Rican-Dominican began to fill out his resume by teaming up with Zion, Roc-a-fella rapper Memphis Bleek and Jamaican reggae artist Mavado. Sensación del Bloque (The Hit of the Block), De La Ghetto's collaboration with Randy, proved that "De La Geezy" could drop hits without his former partner.
Nicknamed "Mr. Versatility," De La Ghetto is prepping his solo debut, Masacre Musical, for a late September release. The album's first single, Es Difícil (It's Difficult), is an electro-R&B jam about learning to cope with a lost love. The New York-bred De La Ghetto promises hip hop, house, reggae, bachata and salsa on Masacre Musical, but quickly adds: "I'm not gonna forget about the reggaetón."
between the sheets
daily dos
wed 1/16/2008
Listen to Zion get down and dirty in Sabanas Mojadas, a new track from his forthcoming special edition of The Perfect Melody.
let a playa play
daily dos
thu 6/28/2007
"The Way She Moves," a new video by Zion featuring Akon. (via Gary Daniel)
Zion, Elvis Crespo, Miranda!, Mark Ronson and Dizzee Rascal.
the music press
tue 6/12/2007
- Puerto Rican blog La Letrina is "sickened" by Zion’s "attempts at rapping" on The Perfect Melody and frustrated that it "doesn't make people want to rub nipples on the dancefloor.” His high-profile collaboration with Senegalese rapper Akon is “smooth and overproduced like any other R&B song,” according to La Onda Tropical.
- Elvis Crespo, the force behind the must-play-at-every-fiesta song Suavemente, releases his eighth album, Regresó El Jefe (The Boss Is Back). Billboard calls it “merengue bomba, a more driven, edgier merengue.” Florida’s La Prensa adds that the 13 cuts are, unsurprisingly, very “danceable and full of romanticism.”
- El Disco De Tu Corazón is Argentine disco-pop group Miranda!'s third release. Argentinean newspaper El Clarin asks: "Is the album’s cover a spoof of American fast food" or "a nod to Mexican superhero El Chapulín Colorado? Even Julieta Venegas sings in a Martian cumbia.” Gonzo Baires laments that Miranda! should have taken advantage of guests like Fangoria and Venegas "to make stronger and more original music.”
- DJ and hot-sh*t producer Mark Ronson (e.g., Christina Aguilera, Lilly Allen and Amy Winehouse) releases covers album Version. Tracks from The Smiths, Radiohead and Britney Spears get the Ronson treatment as he “rebuilds them brilliantly with hip hop beats and upbeat Motown arrangements,” according to Sputnikmusic. Yahoo’s Dotmusic is less impressed and pans the album for being “disappointingly short on spark, spunkiness and style" while "relying instead on novelty for impact.”
- U.K. Garage rapper Dizzee Rascal returns with his third album, Maths & English. Nearly five years after his debut, the British rapper “still sounds like nothing else,” declares The Guardian U.K. Dizzee Rascal is “like a thug from a parallel universe” explains Rolling Stone, which gives Maths three and a half stars for being a “tense, uncomfortable prospect that gets under your skin something fierce.”
DJ Nelson “Flow La Discoteka 2”
discorama
sat 4/21/2007
Nelson Martínez, aka DJ Nelson, is considered the "Godfather of reggaetón." His latest release, Flow La Discoteka 2, proves he's also one the genre’s innovators.
Flow La Discoteka 2 is anything but typical, as its best tracks seek to redefine reggaetón, most of them benefiting from slick production that may inspire Luny Tunes to go back to the drawing board. Flow’s glossy template takes cues from '80s icons such as Michael Jackson (Arcangel’s “Chica Virtual”) and the Eurythmics (O’Neil’s “Algo De Ti Me Llama”). Nelson summons Timbaland’s spirit on the grimy synth-drenched beats of Voltio’s “Dale Mami Damelo.”
Although it borrows heavily from past decades, Flow never feels outdated – even when Nelson throws in some techno on Zion’s “Que Pasará.” “Mal de Amores” borrows freestyle music from Black Eyed Peas and caps it off with Ñejo’s Tego-influenced flow. Rapper AJ defines the album's essence on the dark electro of “Love, Sex & Disco,” confidently proclaiming, “nueva música, nuevos estilos, reggaeton con mucha cosa” (new music, new styles, reggaetón with substance).
Unfortunately, the album is interrupted by cloying caribbean numbers and ends with the Menudo-like ballad “Gracias Mama,” an abrupt and disappointing ending to an otherwise exciting trip to the future.
Recommended tracks (iTunes)
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